The Steering Column Right Hand Drive from our Vice - President

Song -"Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer!" Ah yes, it has truly come! Lazy and Hazy, if you're into picnics, driving in the country or loafing around the pool, BUT, Crazy if you are looking at cruising to car shows! You can attend one of these things every day of the week if you want to! Some charge a fee if you wish to show your car, others, like the Main Street affairs are free. But, boy, there is really no shortage of either type to attend.
One thing I've noticed is that because of the geographical diversity of these shows, the cars are completely different at each one. Oh, some guys take their cars to every show, but I've been surprised at seeing many different ones, completely new to me!
And speaking of diversity, the Orphan Car Picnic, was a real blast! Beautiful old cars - Hudson’s, Nashe’s, of course, Corvair’s, (this was their club picnic), Packard’s, oh what a delight to see all these oldies but goodies again. Naturally, our British cars were well represented, about 10-12 MG's both vintage and later models. Triumph was there, well represented by the ISOA members. There was even a double bubble Fiat abarth there along with the good old Fiat 500!!! Don't see many of those anymore. I think the club now has 3 new members due to the picnic. So thanks to Barney and Jim, this turned out to be a very successful adventure.
Our lastest guest speaker from BP was pretty interesting, Dr. Jim Simick, Tech Advisor for US Fuels, gave a great incite into gasoline (you know, the stuff we spend money on for our cars instead of food for our stomachs) - a lot of the information, I think most of us know, but some of the technical things about octane, volatility, etc., was most interesting and I think we forget that the guys working in this industry also have to drive to their jobs, so they feel the pain as much as we do.
Well, all this "Lazy, Hazy" days stuff has made me a little "Crazy" so I think I'll go for a drive....keep the rubber side down and shiny side up!
- Dean
 

New Members The officers and members of the Chicagoland MG Club extend a cordial “MG Welcome” to these new members who have joined our club in recent months. We wish each and every one of you “Safety Fast” and hope you will avail yourself to as many club activities as you can. James Petrie - Sugar Grove IL - 1974 red MGB Bruce Magers - Northfield IL Phil Hantak - Bartlett IL - 1970 MGB Note: To any member whose name does not appear above, your application may have missed our deadline. If you don’t see your name next month, call our Secretary, Victor L’Heureux at (847) 516-3592 to verify.

Meeting Minutes
Monday, August 18, 2008

Attendance: 44 members

The meeting was called to order at 8:05 pm by President, Jim Evans

Past Events – Jim noted the past events participated by club members.
Road America Camping Trip – Elkart Lake, WI hosted by Jake & Ann Snyder
University Motors Octagon Picnic hosted by John Twist of University Motors Ltd, Ada, MI
Orphan Auto Picnic – hosted by the Vintage MG Car Club

Upcoming Events – See details in the Driveline or on the Website of the many events available for club members in the near future.

eBay Parts Program – A program to list select saleable items on a website auction has been developed by David Evans and the first items have been sold and additional items are listed. The intention is to make available many usable parts owned or donated to the club to members and MG owners that could use the parts instead of discarding into the trash bin. Check the CMGC website for the current items for sale. After a couple of weeks, these items will be posted on a commercial web site (eBay) for sale.

Driveline newsletter problems? – With the new format, there have been some initial distribution problems experienced by club members. Delivery delays have been noted in the Naperville, Downers Grove and Lisle areas. Bill has been in contact with the US Postal Service about these issues. If you have difficulty in receiving your newsletter in a timely manner, please contact Bill Reece at editor@chicagolandmgclub.com.

Fall Tune-down session – David Bralich again will host a tech session focused on preparing your car for the winter storage at his home/shop. Those attending will be able to enjoy the homemade chili and cornbread along with putting their car up on a lift to perform the necessary work. More information will be given next month after the final details are set.

Guest Speaker – Dr. Jim Simick, Technical Advisor for US Fuels of British Petroleum Company, was the guest speaker this evening. Jim’s presentation “Fuels 101” touched on the basics of gasoline quality and performance as experienced in this area of the country. Some of the important features of the fuel are Octane, Volatility and Additives. Jim touched on all these aspects and addressed questions from the audience regarding unleaded fuels, carburetor vapor lock and additives.

50/50 Raffle – Mike Brosseau went home $11 richer from the raffle.

Meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm
-- Victor L’Heureux